Business Skills for New Graduates

There are certain business skills that every professional needs to have in order to be successful, whether you’re launching a career as a writer, engineer, teacher, or just about anything else. The good news is, you probably already have some—and the rest are easily learned.

So whether you’re gunning for a job or your first big raise, this list of business skills can help you seal the deal.

Bonus points: These important business skills can also help you in the future when you’re looking to get a promotion or boost your appeal to potential employers. (Tip: Be sure to check out Monster's grad site for more great info.)

Top Skills for Business

1. Negotiating
2. Time management
3. Public speaking
4. Research
5. Teamwork and people skills

1. Negotiating Skills

Why they’re important: You need to know how and when to be persuasive and get what you want. Negotiating skills will come in handy in many professional situations, but especially when it’s time to ask for a raise or secure a great job offer.

Becoming a good negotiator early on in your career is important, since most salary bumps depend on your earlier salaries. Negotiating skills can also help you barter for other job perks and benefits, such as a signing bonus, flexible work schedule, or relocation assistance.

How to develop them: To lay the groundwork for salary negotiations, you need to arm yourself with data. How much, on average, does someone with your education, skills, and years of experience get paid in your industry? Pro tip: You can find the answer at Monster’s salary page.

Do your due diligence, ask mentors about salary expectations, and then use your findings to support your request.

2. Time Management Skills

Why they’re important: Time is money—period. Learn how to maximize your productivity is one of the most important business skills.

While the quality of your work is critical, so is volume. Show managers that you do good work—a lot of it. Developing time management skills will also prevent you from wasting energy on low-value tasks.

How to develop them: To help you determine where to funnel your focus, get clear expectations from your manager of deadlines and how success will be measured. Once have that information, you can focus on prioritizing your workload and checking off tasks from your to-do list.

3. Public Speaking Skills

Why they’re important: Public speaking skills are crucial to establishing yourself as a competent, likeable, and approachable individual. Your ability to communicate your message to both a large audience and small group is critical. You need to be a presence, not just a drone that executes work.

How to develop them: Use presentations at team meetings to sharpen your public speaking skills. Tend to get pre-presentation jitters? Remember that you're in the driver's seat. Make sure you ask your boss for feedback so that you can improve for future presentations.

To get practice outside the office, consider joining Toastmasters, a national organization that offers public speaking workshops.

4. Research Skills

Why they’re important: To be a valuable employee who can compete with the very best (both for your own career’s benefit and the benefit of your company), you must keep your pulse on changes in your industry.

How to develop them: Here are a number of ways to stay informed:

• Participate in industry groups and forums on social media
• Follow thought leaders on social media
• Set up Google Alerts for news about competitors
• Listen to industry podcasts
• Sign up for industry newsletters
• Subscribe to trade publications
• Join professional associations
• Attend industry conferences

5. Teamwork and People Skills

Why they’re important: Getting along with others is one of the most elementary business skills. Everyone loves a team player who’s ready to pitch in at a moment’s notice. Be that person.

Similarly, you need to get along well with coworkers so you can collaborate on projects. Therefore, it makes sense that 78.7% of employers surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers said teamwork is a top priority when assessing entry-level job candidates.

How to develop them: Learn to be a good listener who seeks to diffuse tension and stress at work by focusing on end results, not emotions. And don’t wait for co-workers to ask for help—offer it willingly. Don’t view relationships with coworkers as transactional. Take a genuine interest in your peers by getting to know them outside of work—either over lunch or happy hour.

Also, contribute to your team by sharing knowledge that you learn at conferences, networking events, or just interesting tidbits you pick up while reading industry news. All good work relationships are reciprocal. 

Stay Sharp

Being a good employee means constantly evolving. Seek out new business skills to learn, new opportunities to take on, and new ways to apply what you've learned to your job. Could you use some help? Join Monster for free today. From time management to networking to leadership, the experts at Monster can help you add to your skillset and move forward in the workplace.